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"Entranced I heard the Banshee's wail, 
And breathless saw the spectre pale 
Move slow and stately down the vale." 



Page 5 



THE 

LEPRECHAUN 



BY 

JAMES T. GALLAGHER 

[Author of *• At the Gates of Noon," etc. 




BOSTON 

SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 

1912 






copybight, 1912 
Sherman, French & Company 



CC1,A330775 



TO 

MICHAEL J. JORDAN, ESQUIRE 

PATRIOT AND SCHOLAR 



FOREWORD 

In this age, with its over-emphasis upon ma- 
terial success and its frenzied speed, too fast for 
observation or meditation, it is a real public 
service to fling open the doors of Fairyland once 
more and summon men to play. Since "Peter 
Pan," we all believe in fairies, — sometimes, at 
least; and Puck, Robin Good- fellow, Oberon, 
Brian Connors, the Leprechaun himself, are 
jolly comrades, ready for a frolic when we will, 
dancing across the printed folios so merrily 
that when we lift our eyes they seem still before 
us. Nay, the latest scientific treatise on such 
things (Mr. W. Y. Evans' Wentz's "Fairy- 
Faith in Celtic Countries") accumulates evi- 
dence and arguments through five hundred 
pages to prove that the Daoine Sidhe are a 
veritable people, manifesting themselves to 
clairvoyant eyes, and that the legends of the 
Tuatha de Danann are much more history than 
fiction. Be it so, for all I care! The great 
thing is an illuminated imagination which 
knows how to see the invisible, to people soli- 
tudes, and to appreciate beauty everywhere. 

Dr. Gallagher has made all who love Innisfail 
his debtors by these vivid verses in praise of 
Connemara. The music of fairy bells is heard 
even in the lists of Irish place-names, each one 



FOREWORD 

melodiously significant ; and his pictures of 
mountain and lough and promontory, heath- 
clad upland and green meadow, are as beauti- 
ful as true. 

They tell a tale that, when the best of the 
fallen angels were doomed to exile on earth, 
S. Michael, compassionate, allowed them to 
choose their habitation where they would, with 
all its conditions as they wished. It must be 
an island, they agreed, with purple hills and 
verdant valleys, crystal springs and mighty 
rivers, gallant men and stainless women in 
whom wit and wisdom and courage and piety 
all combined. "Granted!" said the Archangel. 
"Then there must be a good government too," 
the exigent exiles went on. "Ah, be off with 
you," the Prince of Sabaoth exclaimed: "Ire- 
land's your place; but if you had the good 
government too with all the rest, you wouldn't 
be missing Heaven." 

With all true sons of leme, Island of Saints 
and Fairies, I rejoice that even this last crown- 
ing gift seems impending above the dear coun- 
try, no longer to be "most distressful," and 
"The Leprechaun" may serve as guide to^ 
Americans visiting a free Ireland, self-governed 
and at peace. 

William Harman van Allen. 
Rectory of the Advent, Boston, 
All Saints', 1912. 



PREFATORY NOTE 

The Connemara Highlands on the West 
Coast of Ireland comprise an area of some 
forty-five square miles. Connemara is domi- 
nated by a beautiful range of mountains 
termed "the Twelve Pins of Bennabeola." Their 
conical shape and the beauty and variety of 
their coloring are remarkable. Connemara 
fronts the Atlantic Ocean and its numerous 
bays are the largest, deepest and most beauti- 
ful in Europe. Scattered about the district 
are literally hundreds of lakes; some of them, 
as Glendalough, Inagh and Ballynahinch, are 
of considerable extent and entrancing beauty. 
Connemara is almost entirely composed of 
mountains and lakes, with valleys, glens, gorges 
and passes presenting a picture sublimely 
grand and picturesque. The Twelve Pins soar- 
ing aloft two thousand five hundred feet are the 
glory of Connemara. 

Sir John Forbes thought nothing could ex- 
ceed the picturesque beauty of these mountains. 
The bare peaks of quartz, now shining in the 
sunlight and now standing sharply in shadow 
against the sky, form a strange and splendid 
coterie of cloud-pointing cones, a "stupendous 
group of Titans." 



PREFATORY NOTE 

Writing of the district Thackeray says: 
"The best guide book ever written cannot set 
the view before the mind's eye. All one can do 
is to lay down the pen and cry 'beautiful' and 
say 'Come and see.' " 

"There are few things in the world," says 
Miss Harriet Martineau, "more delightful than 
a drive at sunset among the mountains and 
lakes of Connemara." 

"I have travelled in Italy and Switzerland," 
says the Earl of Zetland, "and can conscien- 
tiously say I never looked upon more beautiful 
scenery." 

Of the effect of sunset Thackeray writes: 
"From an eminence I caught sight not only of 
a fine view, but of the most beautiful view I 
ever saw in the world. The sun was about to 
set. The country was almost in twilight. The 
mountains were tumbled about in a thousand' 
fantastic ways and clothed in purple. But the 
bay — and the Reek which sweeps down to the 
sea — and a hundred islands in it were dressed in 
gold, purple and crimson, with the whole 
cloudy west in a flame. Wonderful, wonder- 
ful! To the left Croagh-Patrick is clothed 
in the most magnificent violet color; a couple 
of round clouds were exploding from the sum- 
mit, that part of them toward the sea lighted 
up with the most delicate gold and rose color. 
In the centre is the Clare Island, of which the 



PREFATORY NOTE 

edges were bright cobalt, whilst the middle was 
lighted up with a brilliant scarlet tinge such 
as I would have laughed at in a picture, never 
having seen in Nature before, but looked at now 
with wonder and pleasure until the hue disap- 
peared as the sun went away." 



TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

"Entranced I heard the Banshee's wail" . Frontis. v^ 

FACING PAGE 

"A clump of ferns above him bent" ... 9 
**But as the Leprechaun draws near" . . , 38 \/ 
"And like the hosts on heaven's outposts" . . 57 i/ 



THE LEPRECHAUN 

The golden waves of ebbing day 
On lone Glen Inagh's valley lay, 
More beautiful than words can say, 
And Garromin and Derryclare, 
And Inagh — loughs entrancing fair 
Embosomed in the mountains there; 
And all the thousand rills that come 
Down rushing from their heather home; 
And fountains fair and manifold 
Were garmented in cloth of gold; 
And shimmered in the sunset beam 
Fair as the landscape of a dream; 
What time, O Connemara grand! 
I gazed on thy enchanting land. 

A stranger in my native land, 

On Cloonacartin hill I stand 

And gaze on Inagh's silver strand; 

Behind me and on either hand 

Lisouter, Turk and Derryclare 

Lift high their foreheads in the air, 

Save for the purple heather, bare; 

Though countless plants and flowerets rare 

Bloom on their swelling breasts, and share 

The glory of the beauty there. 



2 THE LEPRECHAUN 

The shadows lengthened: down the dell 
The mystic veil of twilight fell; 
But yet beneath its gauzy screen 
The lakes and dells and islands green 
In all their beauty could be seen, 
While ev'ry tree that reared its crest 
Above the valley's swelling breast 
Seemed painted on the glowing West. 

On Bennabola's lofty brow 

The Sunset leads his legions now, 

And many a streaming banneret 

And glittering spear of gold are set 

On purple peak and cliff of jet 

That rise fantastic, grim and strange. 

Above that towering mountain range. 

While down Bencullagh, fold on fold, 

Her sable mantle Night unrolled 

Till mountain, valley, lake and glade 

Were folded in its filmy shade. 

The Mistress of the Silver Key 
Now hangs her shield on Bennlet'ry, 
And with a gesture of command, 
And smile that lightens sea and land. 
She bade her maid-in-waiting bring 
The girdle of the Mystic Ring. 



tHE LEPRECHAUN 

And, as the beam of evening dies, 
To ope the casket of the skies 
And with her jewels, rare and bright, 
Begem the garment of the night. 

On Glendalough the moonbeams glance. 

With silver feet its waves advance. 

And on the shore like fairies dance 

To music of the breath of May 

Its pebbly beach is bright as day, 

As musingly I take my way 

And turn aloft my raptured eye 

Where Ben-y-breccan rears his crest 

Like some lone isle of souls distrest, 

Above the Ocean of the sky. 

And Oh! the joy beyond compare 

To watch the cloud-ships sailing there; 

Their masts and spars as gypsum fair 

All canvassed with the Night-Queen's hair; 

Their hulls like alabaster rare. 

To see them come, to see them go 

O'er heaven's Ocean all aglow. 

To view them glassed in tides below 

Where ev'ry star that gems the skies 

Reflected in their pathway lies. 

O Connemara! beauteous land. 

What bliss is mine again to stand 

Upon thy wild and rugged strand. 



4 THE LEPRECHAUN 

And I have come across the sea 
A thousand leagues to visit thee, 
Beloved but little known to me. 
And I would go ten thousand more 
And travel deserts o'er and o'er 
To view the beauties of thy shore. 
For never met the human eyes 
In any land, in any clime, 
A panorama more sublime 
Than here unrolled before me lies 
And all my limning art defies ! 

And now in universal calm 

I halt and breathe the heather balm 

Beneath the precipice of Maam, 

And view its huge and awful wall. 

O'er which the Inagh waterfall, 

A mighty glowing silver sheet. 

Leaps to the glen twelve hundred feet. 

And downward rolls in foamy pride 

With many a laugh and glance and glide 

To feed Lough Inagh's crystal tide, 

Then onward to the mighty sea — 

The mountain lakes' eternity. 

It was the gladsome month of May 
And midnight was not far away, 
That mystic hour when cronies say 
The goblin and the ghost have sway, 
And lead benighted folk astray, 



THE LEPRECHAUN 

Less oft in malice than in play. 

The air was still, the lone, profound 

And awful silence, not a sound 

Disturbed, save now and then the call 

Of night-bird, and the waterfall. 

The lakes were wrapped in slumber's pall, 

The very mountains seemed to swoon. 

The thousand rills to hush their tune. 

And shadows crept across the moon. 

The night was on the stroke of noon 

When from the dell I heard up swell 

More mournfully than words can tell 

The Banshee's ^ weird and lonely croon. 

Now loud and piercing in its flow. 

And now a monotone of woe, 

It rose and fell, and fell and rose, 

And Echo's trumpet swelled each close. 

Till ev'ry mountain glen and dell 

Reverberates its ghostly swell; 

And ev'ry valley of the sea 

Was filled with its wild melody, — 

When suddenly it died away. 

And Night resumed her silent sway. 

Entranced I heard the Banshee's wail. 
And breathless saw the spectre pale 
Move slow and stately down the vale 
Until it vanished from my sight 
Where Letterbrecen rears his height 
Above Killkieran's spreading bay. 



6 THE LEPRECHAUN 

And then I breathed, and I confess 
Though fear did ne'er disturb me less 
My thoughts went often to Recess, 
And that dehghtful hostel there 
My comrades from beyond the sea 
Who doubtless now awaited me, 
With something of anxiety. 
Mine honest host so debonair 
And his inviting bill of fare; 
But these were many miles away 
And I must wait the coming day. 

Compelled on fragrant air to dine, 
My weary limbs I now recline 
Beneath a blasted mountain pine, 
And as I view the withered form 
Of that sole veteran of the storm, 
And mused upon its fate forlorn, 
Of ev'ry future promise shorn, 
Yet clinging still where it was born, 
I thought upon my Motherland, 
And that sad eve I left her strand 
Despairing, hopeless, and unmanned. 
Believing all her hopes were o'er 
And I would see her nevermore. 

O Motherland! O Motherland! 
To-night I kneel upon thy strand 
And fervent kiss thy silver sand. 
To-night I clasp thy tender hand, 



THE LEPRECHAUN 

And gaze into those azure eyes 

That haunted me 'neath alien skies, 

And woke my ceaseless tears and sighs; 

To-night I ask thee to forget, 

And Oh! forgiveness, too, I crave 

If in a moment of regret 

My sun of hope had seemed to set 

As rolled between us Ocean's wave ; 

For, mother of the weary heart! 

'Twas more than death from thee to part; 

And though the great land of the free 

A kindly welcome gave to me, 

My heart and soul were wrapped in thee. 

O Spirit of the mighty free, 
America! all hail to thee 
And thy inspired Democracy! 
At whose alchemic touch sublime 
The human waifs of ev'ry clime 
The monarch-hating patriot. 
Compelled to share the exile's lot, 
Transmuted art to gold as pure 
In civic virtue, and as sure 
To keep thy Freedom's ark secure 
As any of the ancient line 
Who drank thy Declaration Wine 
And knelt in worship at thy shrine. 



8 THE LEPRECHAUN 

But hark! that awful thunder crash, 

And see! that lance of lightning flash, 

Ben-dowglass to its base is riven. 

And fear seems on the face of heaven. 

A monster mad the tempest roars ; 

The startled sky a deluge pours; 

The coursers of the lake arise, 

Their white manes toss unto the skies. 

And frenzied gallop to the shore, 

Where countless mountain-torrents pour 

Their sullen floods with demon-roar. 

While o'er that elemental fight 

The banner of Plutonian Night 

Rolled downward from the yawning height 

And curtained all from human sight 

Save where the lightning's broad-sword made 

A fissure in its sable shade, 

And to my searching eyes displayed 

A tiny form in garb arrayed 

I never saw on man or maid 

Or child in town or mountain glade. 

A calm, mysterious and profound. 
Now fell on everything around. 
And with the band of Silence bound 
The wounds of frenzied nature's sound, 
While cautiously, with silence shod, 
I moved along the heather sod 
To nearer view this mountain god. 




'A clump of trees above him bent 
To make for him a working tent." 



Page 9 



THE LEPRECHAUN 9 

To me he seemed a weeny man 

Who lived ere Time his flight began; 

Though Time must know his dwelling place 

Or met him somewhere in the race, 

And stayed him long enough to trace 

A million wrinkles in his face. 

An ancient hat of flaming red 

In rakish fashion crowned his head; 

It tapered back and cocked before 

Belike the style the Frenchmen wore 

On fields of fame in days of yore. 

His coat was antiquated, too, 

And made of cloth of greenish hue; 

A lighter shade the collar faced 

And made a girdle for his waist 

Which one large silver buckle braced. 

While moon-like buttons half a score 

(There may have been a dozen more) 

The garment fastened down before. 

He sat upon a weeshy stool 
Beside a sparkling fountain pool 
That bubbled musically sweet 
Beneath his silver-slippered feet 
Bedecked with golden buckles neat. 
A clump of ferns above him bent. 
The cannawaun ^ assistance lent 
To make for him a working tent. 
The deeshy ^ shoe upon his knee 
He hammered oft and constantly, 



10 THE LEPRECHAUN 

And as the hammer rose and fell 
To music of the mystic spell, 
The tiny slipper grew and grew 
Of moonlight made, and midnight dew, 
Until it seemed to me complete 
And I believed the moment meet 
The Leprechaun * of fame to greet ; 
So at the very moment when 
The hammer would descend again 
I seized the mountain manikin. 

He did not move or speak or sigh, 

But fixed on me his fiery eye 

Until I feared that I must fly. 

His face contracted to a grin, 

His nose descended to his chin, 

He looked the fatherhood of sin. 

"And now, my Cappain Dearg," ^ I said, 

"It looks as if I'd caught you dead. 

And you must stay with me alway 

Unless a mighty price you pay; 

For I have sought you many a day. 

Know that I'm Irish born and bred." 

He smiled and answered, "I'm alive, 

And if you deem you can derive 

A fortune from your little prize, 

Look for the green within my eyes." 

"I know that you are Irish bred 

And that to Yankee-land you fled. 

And there the simple natives bled. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 11 

Until your cunning hands were red. 
The Irish to the Yankee wed 
Can beat the Jew at any game 
And any sleeveen ^ trick can frame ; 
But give your purpose here a name?" 

"My little chap, you're mighty bold, 
But soon my message will be told. 
I came to get the crock of gold 
That you are guarding in this hold. 
Three nights I dreamt that it is hid 
In yonder stony pyramid. 
Three nights I saw in vision clear 
You come and count this golden gear; 
Produce it or I'll pinch your ear. 
This time you cannot play the cheat, 
Be quick, be civil, and discreet ; 
The bird of day is winging fleet 
And soon shall light in this retreat. 
And many things I must be told 
Ere I release you from my hold. 
So, Leprechaun, give up your gold." 

And now the little fellow laughed. 
And smacked his lips as if he'd quaffed 
From lily's cup ambrosial draught. 
He gazed on me with merry eye 
While thus he cackled his reply. 
"I find you know the game of touch. 
You certainly don't want for much; 



la THE LEPRECHAUN 

But I suppose I'm in your clutch. 
'Tis gold go leor to you I'll give, 
A launah wallah '^ ev'ry day 
Till time and tide shall pass away. 
And so much gold you shall receive, 
In golden castles you can live; 
On golden porridge you can dine, 
Or golden beef with golden wine 
Served up with golden maids divine. 

"And if for other things you sigh, 

In golden airships you can fly 

To golden sea or golden sky. 

Or where the golden rainbows lie. 

On golden pinions you may sail 

The golden vales of Innisfail; 

Or with the Sheogs ride the gale 

And hear each golden fairy tale. 

Or if you'd rather linger here 

'Mid scenes you seem to love so dear, 

A golden palace I will rear 

That never had on earth a peer. 

On yonder lake in golden boat 

On golden wavelets you can float 

Amid the gleams of golden dreams. 

And be a monarch and a poet. 

While fairy maids — a million motes — 

With golden harps and golden throats 

Will sing to you love's golden notes. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 13 

To you I'll give my lucky purse, 
Its store you'll never need to nurse, 
Though gold is seldom but a curse 
And always makes the wicked worse. 

"But lo ! the Herald of the Dawn 
On tip-toe stands on Carrickbawn, 
And beckons me to come away 
To greet the messenger of Day 
That hither comes in bright array. 
And I must be in Knockna-shee 
Ere sunlight glimmers on the lea. 
And bring these slippers to the Queen. 
In royal pageantry and sheen 
The fairy hosts to-day are seen 
In Beltan dance upon the green, 
And knighthood feats upon the plain. 
Beneath the waters of Leenane. 

"Oh, let me go, or with me fly 

Where Joy and Beauty never die, 

Where Summer with eternal smile 

Flings fruits and flow'rs in endless showers 

On mountain, meadow, lake and isle. 

And Sorrow's shadow never lowers. 

Where castles lift their crystal walls 

By golden streams and waterfalls 

That ever sing sweet madrigals. 

While high above, the star-gemmed blue 

With golden sunshine streaming through, 



14 THE LEPRECHAUN 

Will ever greet your raptured view. 
Oh, why should mortal linger here 
And pain and death and torture fear 
With such a paradise anear? 
His life is but a fleeting day, 
And be it sad or be it gay, 
He basks a moment in its ray ; 
Or be it twilight, dusk or bright, 
Ere he has sampled one delight 
The curtain falls, and it is night. 

"I'll give to thee this magic key, 
And thou canst lead or follow me; 
Or take this rainbow nurtured rod 
And be at once a fairy god 
With millions waiting on your nod. 
And wheresoe'er you wave the wand 
On mountain, meadow, lake or strand 
At once shall rise a palace grand. 
Oh ! come with me a king to be 
For ever in the land of Shee." 



Come away, come away, come away with me 
To the land of Joy by the azure sea ! 

Oh, come and sip 

From the lily's lip 
The golden dews of the land of Shee; 

While the fairies dance 

In the pale moon's glance 



THE LEPRECHAUN 15 

Their midnight trance on the green-ringed lea. 
On the silver marge of the azure sea, 
Where the shade of sorrow can never be, 
Come away, come away, come away with me. 

Come away, come away, come away with me 
To the land of Youth by the azure sea! 

Where the faintest breath 

Of the breeze of death 
Has never blown on a bud or tree; 

And the birds of Spring 

Forever sing 
On a tireless wing in the merriest glee. 
Oh, the golden groves by the azure sea ! 
Where the Summer of Love shall ever be. 
Come away, come away, come away with me. 

"Oh, wizard of the wise," I said, 

"You wake strange longings in my head, 

And rouse new terrors of the dead. 

I ever loved the young and fair. 

The beautiful, the sweet and rare. 

And pined companionship to share. 

Ambition, mother of all care. 

Has ever pointed to her stair. 

And fired my soul to know and dare 

The secrets of the earth and air; 

But Fate my soaring wings clipped bare. 

And have I loved my native land 



16 THE LEPRECHAUN 

Since first my infant feet could stand 
Upon her sweet and verdant strand. 
And late I came across the main 
A greater knowledge to obtain 
Of every mountain, glen and plain 
That lies within her grand domain, 
To trace the fountains of her bane 
And aid her glory to regain. 
I'll go with thee, Moy Mell,^ to see 
Its fairy hosts and pageantry, 
If thou wilt promise and agree 
To show these wondrous wilds to me 
From purple peak to azure sea. 
And tell their magic mystery." 

*' 'Tis done," the Leprechaun replied, 

"I'll be your mentor and your guide. 

While in green Erin you abide. 

Or with the 'Dina Magh' ^ reside. 

But shall we fly or run or ride?" 

I, laughing, said, "Give me a steed, 

I like the Connemara breed. 

They're small and sound and they can bound 

From crag to crag with ease and speed. 

And if you fall you're near the ground, 

As in my youth I often found. 

But how can you supply our need.? 

There's not a groom or stable-room 

I understand this side of Tuam ; 

They grow not here like heather bloom." 



THE LEPRECHAUN 17 

"Now don't get gay with me," he said, 
"Or pufF your chest, or swell your head. 
You little know how ponies grow 
When science is to magic wed. 
I have the seed of one fine breed 
That grows, whenever I have need, 
Into a grand and trusty steed. 
And never wants a drink or feed. 
And can the winds of March outspeed." 
Then from his breast he took a twig, 
A wooden toothpick seemed as big. 
And placed it in my dexter hand 
And lightly touched it with his wand. 
And then he placed upon my head 
An ancient cap of flaming red. 
And these strange words of magic said: 
"Yarrow and rue 

And red cap too.; 

Be ever ready 

Your work to do." 
And then he counted three times three 
And gave another twig to me ; 
Then uttered loud a sharp command. 
Two milk-white steeds beside us stand. 
"Mount ! mount ! Sir Seamus, mount and ride," 
He said, and galloped by my side. 



Away, away, away we speed 

O'er mountain, valley, lake and mead. 



18 THE LEPRECHAUN 

Till on the brow of Ben-alede 

He sudden reins his bounding steed, 

And beckons me to halt and heed. 

"And now," he said, "behold a sight 

That seldom is to mortal given, 

A panorama of delight 

Unmatched beneath the dome of heaven. 

Look North or South or East or West, 

O'er countless lakes to azure sea, 

From deepest glen to mountain crest. 

And wilt thou not with me attest 

That Connemara is most blest 

With beauty and sublimity? 

But wait until the morning ray 

Transmute to gold its garments gray, 

And all the angel hosts of light 

Lift up the murky veil of night 

From flowery vale and heath-robed height. 

And give their faces to the day 

In all their grace and majesty.' 

Then shalt thou see the fairest sight 

God ever made for man's delight. 

And yet though high its glories swell 

'Tis but a shadow of Moy Mell. 

"The toilers of the Dawn have ceased: 
And now thine eyes a moment feast 
Upon the gateway of the East, 
Where swift the legions of the day 
In bright and beautiful array 



THE LEPRECHAUN 19 

Pour out along the golden way 

Their crimson banners streaming gay, 

Their burnished lances flashing high 

A flaming fire upon the sky, 

As up the cloudy forts they hie 

To battle with the Night and die. 

And hark! the Lark's imperial song. 

Like bugle's breathing, floats along 

The ramparts where the fighters throng 

While cloud on cloud, and mist on mist, 

Of crimson, gold and amethyst, 

Upon a loom of light and gloom 

A gorgeous coronet have spun 

To deck the forehead of the Sun, 

That now in majesty doth rise 

To claim dominion of the skies. 

Where purple-couched Night's monarch lies. 

"0 beauteous are the days of Spring 
When Nature is awakening. 
And like a child by dreams beguiled 
Flings off^ its cradle covering 
And lifts its head from pillowed bed 
To list the birds or fairies sing 
While yet asleep or slumbering. 
And glorious are the Summer days 
When 'neath the sun's caressing rays 
The fields in flowery splendor blaze 
And snow-white hedges scent the ways, 
And bird and bee and glancing fay 



20 THE LEPRECHAUN 

In valley green or old boreen 
Forever wing and sing and play 
All the length of a summer day. 

"But now the Spring is in its prime 

In this enchanting land and clime, 

Or is it early Summer time? 

But whether spring or summer season 

We shall not question now or reason, 

For I did promise and agree 

To show this wondrous land to thee. 

And tell, as simple as I can. 

What's little known to mortal man, — 

The power, the majesty, the plan 

Of Nature's magic mystery. 

"But yesterday in tranced death 
Was tree and flower and grass and heath 
Throughout this land from strand to strand, 
From mountain top to glen beneath. 

"To-day Spring walks across the land 

And waves aloft her magic wand 

And whispers, breathing sweet and bland, 

To mother earth; 
And lo ! from spreading plain to strand 

All things have birth. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 21 

"The valleys weave their primrose crest, 

The hills enrobe in verdant vest, 

The mountains heave their snow-clad breast 

And give to light 
The heather and the violet guest 

Upon their height. 

"The dainty larch with gladness thrills 
Beside a thousand dancing rills ; 
The wild thyme every dingle fills 

With fragrant wine, 
And by the sea, on lone sand hills, 

Weird pansies twine. 

"The cuckoo's chants the woods awake, 
The blackbirds' chorus floods the brake. 
The thrushes all the thickets shake 

With breath of song; 
The larks divinest music make 

Heaven's arch along. 

"And see ! the living blue o'erhead 
With flocks of sun-kissed clouds bespread 
Resounding ever to the tread 

Of angel feet; 
On all doth benediction shed 

Divinely sweet. 



2^ THE LEPRECHAUN 

"Now westward turn thy searching eyes 

Where Achill ^^ in the Ocean lies, 

A wondrous island paradise 

By ocean breezes ever fanned. 

Its spreading wealth of silver strand 

And crystal wave and velvet sand 

No rival has in any land. 

And lo! where Achill lifts his head 

Above his ocean-guarded bed 

What gorgeous glory is outspread! 

And nearer, on the western shore 

Where rugged Croughan and Slievemore 

Their haughty foreheads, high and bare, 

Above the clouds in grandeur rear, 

Behold a scene surpassing fair. 

Now turn thy wonder-seeking eyes 

Where Minnaun's awful cliffs arise 

Into the bosom of the skies 

And gleam, like vast cathedral aisles. 

Above a sea that seldom smiles. 

And lo ! the goblin-haunted caves. 

Carved by the fingers of the waves. 

Where Lir Mananan ever .raves ; 

And Croughan cliff without a peer 

In all this western hemisphere. 

"Now let thy seeking glances fall 
Where, like a mighty seneschal, 
Croagh Patrick stands sublimely tall 
Beside Clew's everlasting sea. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 23 

The guardian of its liberty. 
How proudly heaves his swelling breast 
In robes of royal purple drest, 
And lo! the gleaming coronet 
That now upon his brow is set 
Of crimson, gold and amethyst, 
New woven in the loom of mist 
And by the lips of Morning kissed. 
Beneath the Reek the bay of Clew 
Unrolls her heaving breast to view, 
And never lay a summer ray 
Upon a rarer, fairer bay. 
Three hundred isles her waves begem. 
And many castles old and grim 
Look frowning on her pulsing tide 
From island fair and mountain side. 
For here in ancient pomp and pride 
The mistress of the dauntless sail, 
Umhaile's Queen, proud Granuale, 
Ruled her dominion far and wide. 
And Erin's heartless foes defied. 

"Now view the 'monarch bald,' Muilrea, 
High towering o'er Killery bay 
In splendid grace and majesty; 
And lo ! the tall and rugged form 
Of grand and beautiful Bengorm, 
Compellers of the cloud and storm ! 
And now across the harbor look 
Where open lies sublime Salruck, 



24 THE LEPRECHAUN 

The fairest page in Nature's book. 
Now turn thine eyes where beauty lies 
As sweetly fair and grandly rare 
As any 'neath the Irish skies, 
And let them feast a little while 
Upon the splendor of Renvyle, 
And Delphi fair and Letterfrack, 
And all that gorgeous sunset track 
That winds along the western shore 
From Erris head to lake Kylemore, — 
To see is ever to adore. 

"Look northward now where glories throng 

Around the Abbey-church of Cong, 

The home of art and culture long. 

The abbey's pride is passed away, 

The ivy clasps its ruin gray 

As if to shield it from decay. 

Yet in each sculptured door and aisle 

And window of the sacred pile 

Are many traces of its fame 

Before the rude despoiler came 

And gave its grandeur to the flame. 

"And now behold the dream and pride 

Of sculptor-artist glorified, 

The ancient abbey of Knockmoy,^^ 

Three thousand years cannot destroy. 

Its history is lost in night 

But in its day, as legends say, 



THE LEPRECHAUN 25 

It was a place of joy and light. 
About it scribes have battles fought 
And many wild delusions taught, 
But never one the meaning caught. 
I'll give to thee the mystic key 
That shall unlock the mystery. 
Long, long before the Christian chime 
Pealed through the valleys of this clime, 
And long before the gladsome time 
When forests were the temples free, 
The sunburst, the divinity. 
To whom the people bent the knee. 
The Dannan priests that temple raised. 
And in it mighty Isis praised. 
Its frescoes were from Egypt brought 
And for Apollo's temple wrought 
By artists of sublimest thought. 
Though ages long the Christian rite 
Was here expounded day and night 
By many a good and learned wight. 

"And now it is my final task 
To show you Corrib and Lough Mask. 
Oh, pray no further questions ask ! 
Yes, yonder lies MoycuUen plain 
Where Orbsen's blood was shed in vain, 
And Ocean's mighty god was slain. 
And eastward is Moytura spread. 
The ancient plain of heroes slain. 



26 THE LEPRECHAUN 

Knockmagh ^^ above it lifts his head, 

The tomb of great Formorian dead. 

Ah, oft in days of martial might 

I watched the billows of the fight 

Roll downward from that mountain height. 

And oft I saw the thrilling sight, 

CuhuUen with his spear of light 

And battle-shield like sunburst bright 

Rush to the mountain-shaking fight. 

And like a bolt of lightning smite. 

Here mighty Finn his heroes led, 

Here the immortal Finea bled, 

Till all the plain was piled with dead 

And Mask and Corrib's flood ran red. 

"The days of mighty deeds are o'er 
And fled is glory evermore 
From Innisfail's resounding shore; 
Yet you shall see upon this lea 
To-morrow night a pageantry 
That never was on land or sea 
For any king of history 
That never mortal eye beheld 
Since Ossian in the days of eld 
Fought on the king of Virtue's plain 
And Fomor of the blows was slain. 
For then Finvarra holds his court 
And here his legions shall resort 
For martial feats and knightly sport. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 27 

And here, to honor him, shall be 

The beauty and the chivalry 

Of all the kingdoms of the Shee. 

But see! the eyelid of the Night 

Is lifting from the eye of light, 

And soon shall blaze the morning bright. 

We must away before its ray 

Is gleaming on Killery bay. 

Away! away! away with me 

To Tir Fa-Ton ^^ the land of Shee." 

"Tell me, tell me, I would know 

Ere from Corrib's shore we go 

Something of the story 

Of yonder ruin hoary, 

Even in decay 

Reflecting still a ray 

Of its olden, golden Egyptian glory." 

"Kilfursa ^^ is its name 

And it's known to Christian fame. 

But its chiefest golden glory 

Is a legendary story 

Of a monk and singing bird 

In the garden once he heard 

When at vespers he was praying; 

And if you're very good. 

And myself am in the mood, 

I'll tell the tale as o'er the hills we're straying." 



28 THE LEPRECHAUN 



THE SONG-BIRD OF KILFURSA 

Once on a time, in gladsome May, 
A holy monk, at dawn of day. 
Came to Kilfursa cliurch to pray. 

Within the Convent garden fair. 

Amid the breathing roses there. 

He kneeled him down in silent prayer. 

No roseleaf in the garden stirred. 
While near him sang a beauteous bird 
The sweetest song he ever heard. 

The holy monk rose from his knee 
To hear the singer in the tree 
Pour out its charming melody. 

From rose to rose, from spray to spray, 
The singer always flew away. 
And ever sang a sweeter lay. 

From tree to tree, in ecstasy. 
The singing bird to hear and see 
The friar followed constantly. 

From grove to grove, a summer day, 
The song-bird flew and sang its lay; 
The holy monk went forth alway. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 29 

At last, as day began to wane, 

He ceased to chase the witching strain 

And to the Convent turned again. 

In robes of gorgeous glory dressed 
The sunset lingered in the West 
While toward Kilfursa church he pressed. 

Now slowly fades the glowing light, 
And falls the mantle of the night 
On convent wall and garden bright. 

Once more within the garden fair 
The holy monk has kneeled in prayer, 
But lo! there are no roses there. 

Surprised, he leaves the wonted place, 
And wanders round the garden space 
The once familiar things to trace. 

But strange is everything he sees; 
Unknown the brothers on their knees; 
Unheard the vesper harmonies. 

He stands before a chair of stone — 
A garden seat to him unknown. 
Though in the convent he had grown. 

He looks across the garden wide 
That ever was his joy and pride; 
Strange trees arise on either side. 



30 THE LEPRECHAUN 

He views the earth and jeweled sky. 
Himself surveys with inward eye, 
Till from his soul bursts forth the cry: 

"O blessed God! what can it be. 
What grievous fault or sin in me 
Has wrought this wondrous mystery?'* 

He paused, and sorrow's sword and shame 
And anguish quivered in his frame. 
As down the walk a brother came. 

"O brother can you tell to me 
The cause of all the change I see 
Since morning, in our monastery?" 

"There is no change," the monk replied, 
"It is the same this eventide 
As when the morning kissed its side. 

"In all the sixty years I'm here 
There is no change that doth appear;" 
And while he spoke he drew more near. 

"But strange thy question I avow. 
Thy garb I know, but who art thou; 
I never saw thy face till now." 

The holy friar told his name. 
And how the little song-bird came 
And fired his soul with sacred flame. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 31 

And how the singer flew away 
And how he followed all the day 
To listen to the angel-lay. 

The brother gravely bowed his head 
As slow and solemnly he said, 
"O holy monk, we thought thee dead.'* 

"Two hundred years ago, to-day, 
Tradition says thou didst away; 
What fate was thine no records say. 

"But never did a morning pass 
(Though many are our dead, alas!) 
And thou unprayed for in our Mass." 

"O strange the story that I hear. 
But shrive and bless me, brother dear, 
For my departing hour is near." 

A glory brighter than the cloud 
That makes the dying' Sungod's shroud 
Fell o'er the monks in penance bowed. 

"Now God be praised!" the brother cried; 
"And Christ his son," the monk replied ; 
"Farewell to thee!" he said, and died. 

Now turn we from, Lough Corrib ^^ shore 
And mount the wild "Pass of the Boar" 
Where mountain floods their torrents pour. 



S2 THE LEPRECHAUN 

As winds of March our white steeds fly 
O'er precipice and headland high 
Where wheehng Curlews pipe their cry, 
And now along the mountain side 
O'er yawning glen and valley wide 
Like winter hurricane we ride. 

Ah! would I had the power to trace 

The glowing beauty of each place — 

The purple hills, the primrose dells, 

The glancing lakes and verdant fells. 

The silver streams and waterfall, 

The variegated marble walls 

That rise successive on my sight, 

As through that valley of delight 

We sped as speeds the morning light. 

For seldom human eye hath seen 

A grander panoramic scene 

Than lies Maam Turk's huge peaks between. 

O thou that holdst the wand of rhyme, 

Presiding Genius of the clime ! 

If my request be not a crime 

Oh, wilt thou grant the power to me 

The Muses granted graciously 

To many bards of Arcady ! 

That I might paint, however faint, 

(For those who never heard thy story 

Or saw thee, peerless Connemara !) 

A picture of the wordless glory, 



THE LEPRECHAUN 33 

The awe-inspiring majesty, 

The beauty and sublimity 

Of chasm, cliff and promontory, 

Flung here in wonderful profusion. 

In awful and sublime confusion. 

By giants and titans at creation, 

To gleam in splendid isolation 

Beside the everlasting ocean, 

And be, what Nature's God designed, 

A pleasure place for all mankind. 

Ah, answerless is my appeal. 

And yet within my soul I feel 

A thrill of inspiration steal 

To fire my drooping thought and zeal. 

Away, away o'er lake and fen 

And singing stream and laughing lin, 

We ride adown Nafooey glen. 

We reach the waterfall and then 

We wheel around the Nimmo inn 

Where sleep my friends. But hark! the shout 

That from the dells and dales about 

In awful suddenness leaps out. 

As from an army put to rout 

Which turns and gains the lost redoubt 

Upswells a fierce, exultant shout; 

So in that mountain-shaking shout 

Ten thousand yelling voices blend 

In one long roar that seems to rend 



34 THE LEPRECHAUN 

The valley wide, from end to end. 
Like thunder wave it rolls on high, 
The mountain echoes swell the cry, 
And in a thousand tones reply, 
Until it melts o'er distant hills 
In sighing sharps and flats and trills 
As thunder-cloud in rain distils. 

I looked into the fairy's eye 

And there I plainly could descry 

The meaning of the frightful din 

That broke around that mountain inn, 

Bealanabrack's fair vale within; 

But never dreamt the fay could share 

The knowledge that my friends were there 

Awaiting me — some nigh despair. 

Nor that the cunning little elf 

Knew more about them than myself 

And planned the rumpus all himself. 

He later told me, with a grin, 

That ere we left MoycuUen fen 

He sent before an army corps 

Of genial spirits to the inn 

To scare the women, maul the men, 

And drink their whisky, wine and gin. 

They had a jolly time, he said. 

And looked upon the wine while red; 

But none of your good friends are dead. 

They only pulled the men from bed 



THE LEPRECHAUN 35 

And bumped and thumped each drowsy head, 
And pinched and wrenched the noses red, 
And then they dragged them round the floor 
And knocked their shins against the door. 
Oh, it was sport to hear them roar. 
And when the sleepers tried to rise 
And vent their terror in vain cries, 
They took their hose and underclothes 
And tightly bandaged mouth and nose 
To music of a thousand blows. 

And while the men bewail their woe 

And tremble at their unseen foe. 

How does it with the women go? 

The ladies feel from head to heel 

A something fearsome and unreal 

Along their limbs and bodies steal 

That wriggles like a snake or eel. 

They try to cry and pray. They kneel 

In mute but eloquent appeal; 

While on them rains a shower of clips. 

And ears and lips and finger tips 

Are pinched and clinched with fairy grips. 

And now another terror shows 

And like a stream of horror flows 

Across the landscape of their woes. 

They see their toes take up their hose 

And glide and waltz like belles and beaux 

Around the room, in crimson rows. 



36 THE LEPRECHAUN 

They see their wigs dance Irish jigs 
With other trifles of their rigs 
Upon their dentist-builded brigs ; 
Their powder puffs and painting stuffs 
In low-cut robes of pinks and buffs 
Waltz with their collars and their cuffs. 
And now they see, O mystery! 
Their willow plumes wave o'er the tombs 
Of ancient dead in abbey glooms ; 
While mourners kneel and bells outpeal 
And keeners keen their piercing wail — 
The ancient death-song of the Gael. 



And now the fairies change the sport, 

And to a cunning trick resort 

They often play both night and day 

When Irish lads the lassies court. 

Oh, many a sweet and thrilling kiss 

Is robbed of all its honeyed bliss 

By such a simple ruse as this. 

They take the pollen of a rose 

That only in the moonlight grows 

And like a golden fire-fly glows ; 

They grind it up in a buttercup 

And blow it into every nose. 

Oh! to see them sneeze, and gasp and wheeze, 

Would make you laugh on the gallows trees, 

While the fairies buzz like a swarm of bees. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 37 

The fairies now had their fill of play, 

And the magic powder they fan away 

With a breeze as sweet as the new-mown hay. 

But ere the mountain inn they leave 

Another web of fun they weave. 

They call the sprites of earth and air 

From Cdnnemara everywhere 

And make them shout the inn about 

To give the guests a final scare. 

Away, away again we speed 

O'er lake and brake, and moor and mead, 

The Leprechaun now in the lead. 

On Corrib shore we ride again. 

We near the castle of the Hen,^^ 

When lo ! a host of little men 

No bigger than a bowling pin 

Spring out about that castle stout 

And throng along its ivied walls 

And parapets and pillared halls. 

As if they answer bugle calls. 

In ancient regimentals drest, 

With spear in hand and shield on breast. 

And on each head a helmet red 

Surmounted by a crimson crest. 

They stand an army vast at rest. 

A moment's space I stay my race 
And gaze in wonder at the place. 
The Leprechaun rides on apace. 



38 THE LEPRECHAUN 

A bugle note swells from the moat 
And loud and clear, afar and near, 
Tells spearman bold and halberdier 
The order of the brigadier. 
And now the leading chiefs appear, 
And banners wave and streamers float, 
And trumpets blare their brazen throat. 
And lo! in beautiful array 
And brilliant as a new-bom day, 
That army vast to war-pipes blast 
Moves out across the meadows gay 
And halts as if to bar his way; 
But as the Leprechaun draws near. 
Each soldier lifts his gleaming spear 
And gives him welcome with a cheer. 

And now our bounding steeds we rein 

Upon the margin of the main — 

The mountain-guarded bay Leenane. 

Wrapped in the morning's golden ray 

All bright and beautiful it lay. 

An ocean-child in cradle gray. 

Rocked by the crooning winds of May. 

A fisher fleet with flowing sheet 

Scarce breaks the rest upon its breast 

Where birds of snow sail to and fro. 

And sleeps the shade of Turk's proud crest. 









00 

GO 

<V 

a 






S biO 






?q ^ 



THE LEPRECHAUN 39 

Oh, it was beautiful to see 

The shine and shade like gems inlaid 

Upon the face of that calm sea. 

The Leprechaun upon it gazed 

And then aloft his wand he raised 

And gave a short and sharp command 

I failed to hear or understand, 

And lo! it bloomed a fairyland. 

"I must away," the fairy said, 

"But one will come to you instead 

In robes official, green and red. 

To entertain you while you go 

Through Timanoge ^'^ and Tirnambeo,^^ 

Lands few are privileged to know. 

He is appointed by the state 

To guide you and to regulate 

Your progress, and officiate 

On all occasions, small or great, 

In hall of Prince or Potentate 

Until before the King and Queen 

In all their majesty and sheen 

And knights and maidens fair, you stand 

Within the court of Fairyland. 

"I must away before a ray 

Of morning ripens into day. 

And bring these slippers to the queen. 

Of dew-drops made and moonlight sheen; 

To-day she wears them on the green. 



40 THE LEPRECHAUN 

But you must wait a little while 

Until the rays of morning smile 

On yonder crystal lake and aisle; 

Then you shall see what you shall see, — 

A model of propriety, 

What all ambassadors should be. 

But while you wait the guide and day 

A host of air will pass this way 

And try to lure you or dismay; 

But safe thou art, and safe shalt be. 

If thou wilt list the words of me 

And heed the signs I give to thee. 

"Look, where yon mountain lifts his crest 

In robes of purple heather drest. 

Save on its breast the golden vest. 

Behold how beautiful it beams. 

And lo ! the thousand glancing streams 

That dancing laugh adown its side 

And 'neath the bending rose-trees glide 

Until they kiss yon crystal tide. 

Now hearken ! when the golden spear 

Of Day's imperial lord appear 

Upon the breast of that tall crest. 

Keep thou thy watchful eye anear ; 

And where the shadows and the shine 

Come trooping down with trailing gown 

Along the streamlets' gleaming line, 

Still let thine eye glance ever nigh. 

And thou shalt spy — what thou shalt spy! 



THE LEPRECHAUN 41 

But when the Sunshine clasps the Shade 
Beneath the beryl colonnade 
In yonder amethystine glade, 
You shall behold a door of gold 
From out a palace white unfold. 
And you shall see what you shall see, 
The model of propriety, 
Which your ambassador shall be. 
So, fare thee well; I must be gone. 
But we shall meet in Tir-Fa-Tonn." 

I cannot tell what next befell, 

For round about the gleaming dell 

A golden mist-like curtain fell; 

Nor can I trace the form or face 

Of any of the spirit race 

That bade me welcome to the place; 

But maidens fair seemed everywhere, 

And golden hair and arms all bare. 

Like sunbeams glanced and danced in air; 

And high above a terraced wall 

Bedecked with flowers and statues tall 

And down which streamed a waterfall 

A silver cloud hung in the air. 

Distilling liquid music rare 

On ev'ry list'ning floweret there: 

While from a daisy-dappled dell 

Where softly-sweet a streamlet fell 

I heard this merry song upswell: 



4a THE LEPRECHAUN 

Morning or evening. 
Noon-time or night. 
When the sun is beaming 
Or the moon is bright; 
Where the grasses tremble 
In the dew-drops' glow. 
Merrily, merrily. 
Round the ring we go. 

When the day is shady 
Or the night is dark 
Sleeping is the nightingale, 
Silent is the lark; 
In the lily's chalice 
Or the tulip's core 
Lie we down adreaming 
Till the gloom is o'er. 

Joy it is at dawning 
To sip the diamond dew! 
Sweet the wine of roses. 
The soul of violets too! 
Gliding on a star-beam 
To the milky way, 
Riding on a gossamer 
We pass the night and day. 

Morning or evening. 
Noon-time or night. 
When the sun is gleaming 
Or the moon is bright ; 



THE LEPRECHAUN 40 

Where the grasses tremble 
In the dew-drops' glow. 
Merrily, merrily. 
Round the ring we go. 

But all the time I fix mine eye 
Where purple mount and azure sky 
Commingle and combine on high. 
I watch the Day roll back Night's shroud 
And step along from cloud to cloud, 
Where shrills the lark his clarion loud. 
I glance on topmost heaven afar, 
While upward rolls the Day-god's car, 
And lesser grows the morning star. 
But all the time I keep my sight 
Upon that purple-vestured height 
Where mountain crest and sky unite. 
And now the day-car turns on high 
And rolls adown the gleaming sky, 
Where still is fixed my watchful eye. 
Then leap the spearmen of the Sun 
Upon the breast of that tall crest. 
And lo ! the citadel is won ! 

The spearmen now in bright array 
Remount the gilded car of day, 
And down the mountain take their way. 
I see the shadows grave and shy 
Troop from the glens and startled fly 
Before their fiery-glancing eye. 



44 THE LEPRECHAUN 

I see the Shade as if afraid 

Halt in the amethystine glade, 

And downward kneel as in appeal 

Beneath the beryl colonnade. 

I see the sunshine clasp the shade 

And tender kiss the ebon maid, 

And lo ! a palace is displayed. 

Of fairest alabaster made. 

With oriental gems inlaid 

And all in rainbow hues arrayed. 

And now rolls back a door of gold 

Begemmed with jewels manifold, 

And through its portals high and wide, 

A little man with martial stride 

Walks out with dignity and grace. 

And bids me welcome to the place. 

He was not young, nor was he old; 
His mien was high, his look was bold, 
And down his neck and shoulders rolled 
His flowing hair of burnished gold. 
His dress was dazzling in its sheen 
And made of cloth of gold and green, 
The doublet slashed with red between. 
Around his waist, with buckle braced, 
A golden belt, with gems enchased 
And broidered o'er with shamrocks green. 
Held golden sword and dagger keen. 
His shoes were white and buckle-laced, 



THE LEPRECHAUN 45 

His stockings gold with silver faced, 
And from his shoulder to his waist 
A crimson mantle fell behind, 
And fluttered in the wooing wind. 

A lesser door now opens wide 
From out that palace glorified. 
And lo! in robes of green and gold 
A dozen pipers, small and old, 
March two by two the portals through. 
And, bowing to their lord, divide 
And stand erect, six either side. 
My lord now waves a golden wand 
And utters low a strange command. 
When all the pipers start to play 
An ancient gaelic martial lay. 
And march adown the terrace way. 

Now one by one the pipers go 

Across a lawn with flowers aglow, 

And soft and sweet their pipes they blow. 

A golden grove is now in view, 

With flowers and fruits of golden hue 

Enamelled colors glancing through; 

And golden birds are winging near, 

Or bending from the boughs to hear 

The pipers' music sweet and clear. 



m THE LEPRECHAUN 

Now by a sapphire fount they stand, 

Whence silver streams on either hand 

Roll down on pearls and golden sand; 

And now they tread a noble hall 

With crystal floor and roof and wall 

And chrysoberyl pillars tall. 

Out from the hall the pipers go, 

And in a flood of colors flow 

Till all are stained in rainbow glow; 

And now they seem to march on air — 

On fleecy clouds surpassing fair. 

And all the sunrise hues are there 

While angel eyes in glad surprise, 

Are glancing down through glowing skies, 

Thrilled by the pipers' symphonies. 

And now adown a winding stair 
Of carded hyacinthine hair 
The pipers play a sweeter air; 
And soon appears an opal plain 
With amber, gold and purple stain 
And many a gleaming milk-white wain. 
And now through morning's fuller glow 
Adown a topaz stair they go, 
And sweeter still their numbers flow; 
And strangely and enchantingly 
The sad, sweet music of the sea 
Commingles with their melody. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 47 

And now they tread a jasper strand 
Well sentineled on either hand 
By violet cliffs sublimely grand. 

Then onward to a turquoise sea 

Whose wavelets croon a mystic rune 

On pebbled shores melodiously. 

With rosy feet across the strand 

Now Morning comes, and from her hand 

Flings orient pearls along the sand. 

Out on the sea her glances flow, 

Out on the line of golden glow 

The little pipers piping go. 

And everywhere, on earth and air, 

The pipers piped their music rare. 

We followed nigh, my guide and I. 

"You must be wearied," said my guide, 
"Our future journey we shall ride." 
Two milk-white ponies stand beside; 
We mount and gallop o'er the plain 
Of that enameled sun-kissed main. 
The pipers lead and pipe their strain. 

And soon we reach an emerald shore 
Around which raging waters roar. 
And cliffs of tourmaline upsoar; 
And now the towering cliffs divide. 
And through the pass the pipers glide. 
But as we toward the passage ride. 



48 THE LEPRECHAUN 

Upon a throne of polished stone 

I see a Mermaid sit alone, 

And singing in a sad sweet tone. 

Like sunset rare, her golden hair 

Streams down her neck and shoulders bare, 

And Oh! she seems divinely fair. 

As on her throne of jasper stone 

She sits and combs her flowing hair 

And sings a sad, enchanting air. 

Sweet as the sparkle of a star 
When only one is shining on 
The brow of Night in heaven afar. 
Was her sad smile as beckoned she 
Across the shining sand to me. 
And oh! how swift and joyfully 
I came to her and bent my knee 
Before her beauty's majesty. 
And kindly did she welcome me; 
But in her voice a sadness slept 
As if for ages she had wept, 
And long and weary vigils kept 
Upon her throne beside the sea. 
And oh! her eyes were like the skies 
Of Erin when the sun doth rise 
And April mists upon them lies, 
As tenderly she sang to me 
This tear-compelling threnody: 



THE LEPRECHAUN 49 

Ah, woe is me! for I must pine 
Until a thousand years have gone. 

Upon this stone, 
The daughter of an ancient line — 
The regal house and race of Brian, 

Of Tara's throne. 
Enforced an eric false to pay. 
Here must I linger* day by day 

In loneliness. 
And, save yon waste of crooning tide 
And this brown otter by my side, 

Companionless. 

Ah! you have come from Innisfail 
And lately sipped the dew] and gale 

Upon her strand. 
And you have prest the meadow's breast. 
The hills, by gentle airs caressed. 

Of that sweet land. 
I scent the heather and the dew. 
The shamrock and the grasses, too. 

Upon your feet. 
Ah, would I could return with you 
Those hills and dells again to view — 

My childhood's seat. 

Oh, would I were on Corrib shore. 
Or where Lough Mask its waters pour 

Fair Cong beside; 
Or where the spreading bay of Clew 
Unfolds the purple Reek to view 

Upon its tide; 



50 THE LEPRECHAUN 

Where Delphi's beauteous mountains rise, 
Or Salruck pass in splendor lies, 

Or lake Kylemore, 
Or bald Muilrea towers in the air, 
Oh ! would that I were anywhere 

On Ireland's shore. 



Upon the waters of Lough Gill, 
Or on Benbulbin's storied hill. 

Or Knocknarea; 
Or in the "smiling valleys" fair 
Of Lissadel and Dromahair 

I'd happy be, 
Beside the wave, in Donegal ; 
Or where the sunny waters fall 

At Assaroe, 
On Swilly lough or Foyle or Neagh, 
Where long O'Nial's race held sway. 

No grief I'd know. 

On high Dunluce's castle walls. 
Or where once stood the royal halls 

On Tara'shill; 
In Glendalough or fair Lismore, 
Or on the Suir or Shannon's shore, 

Glen Columbkille; 
Or where Glengarriff's smiling sea 
Forever croons a melody 

On Bantry's shore, 
Or were I on thy wave Lough Lene, 
My moans and tears would cease, I ween. 

For evermore. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 61 

But woe is me! for I must stay 
Till Ireland's liberation day, 

God knows how near; 
Here must I wait and weep and moan. 
Here must I sit all days alone, 

From year to year. 
But hark! I hear the trumpet call! 
Her mighty heroes mount the wall! 

The shout of victory! 
Oh! what were centuries of pain. 
Of blood and tears, of rack and chain, — 

Our flag floats free ! 

The song prophetic scarce had died 

Upon the bosom of the tide, 

Nor Echo from her home replied, 

Ere rose again a sweeter strain, 

A lighter, brighter minor lay 

Of childhood's home and childhood's May, 

When life was like a Summer day: 

Ah, the gladsome, golden May-days that I knew 
In the dells of dear old Sligo, long ago, 

Crowning May-Queens on the lawn 

When the diamonds of the dawn 
Silver lakes! across the meadows seemed to glow. 

Then my heart was glad and gay 

As the hawthorn's snowy spray 
When it dances to the music of the bees. 

And my spirit was as bright 

As a lance of morning light. 
And my life was like a scented summer breeze. 



52 THE LEPRECHAUN 

Ah, the happy, merry May-days that I knew 
On the verdant hills of Sligo, long ago. 

Gazing out upon the bay 

When the evening's golden ray 
Smiles on sail and gull careering to and fro. 

Oh, the glancing of the sea.! 

And the wild waves prancing free. 
Linking hands like dancing children on the shore; 

Over all the laughing skies 

With the hue of Irish eyes — 
Ah ! they haunt me in my sorrow] evermore ! 



The haunting melody has ceased, 

And Echo, like a serving priest, 

A benediction now doth shed 

On cliff and cave and kneeling wave. 

And on the Mermaid's bended head, 

As very sweet and sad she said: 

"I may not longer keep you here; 

Alas ! alas !" and tear on tear 

Fell from her eyes as crystal clear 

And fragrant as the dew that lies 

Upon the violet at sunrise 

When May flings incense to the skies. 

"The King and Queen of Fairyland 

Await you in their palace, and 

Your guide has given his command; 

But when by Erin's streams you stray 

At morning or at close of day. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 5S 

Ah, will you sometimes think of me, 
An Irish exile 'neath the sea 
Still pining in captivity." 

Across a meadow now we go 
Bestarred with flowers of iris glow; 
We follow all the meadow through 
A streamlet of cerulean blue 
Upon whose banks the fleur-de-lis 
Upgrows in vast variety; 
An iris bow above it bends 
And to the scene a glory lends 
That all my picturing transcends. 

We enter now a garden fair — 
A spacious gold-tree-circled square 
Where roses rare bloom everywhere 
And fainting lies the perfumed air 
On beds of tear-eyed violets there; 
And as we ride beneath the trees 
That bend in lace-like canopies 
Comes, faint at first, upon the breeze 
A swell of dream-like harmonies 
That ever nearer and more near, 
That ever clearer and more clear, 
Delicious fall upon the ear. 



54f THE LEPRECHAUN 

From out the garden now we go 

Beneath a crystal arch, and lo! 

Upon a wide enameled lawn 

More beautiful than Summer dawn 

Unnumbered hosts we see advance, 

Their vesture bright as morning's glance, — 

Some linked in chain of mazy dance 

And some unlinked disporting free 

In wide, untrammeled revelry, 

And flinging rose-leaves on the lea, 

While others as they dance along 

Awake the very soul of song 

From harp and lute of heavenly thrill, 

Or their own voices sweeter still. 

And now the fairy hosts divide 

And gather nearer, as we ride 

Like rosy clouds at eventide 

Around the chariot of the sun — 

And lo, our destined goal is won! 

Our march through fairyland is done! 

For on a hill-top I behold 

A palace beautiful of gold. 

More splendid than my dreams foretold. 

And in the portals I can see 

The King and Queen awaiting me. 

Surrounded by the chivalry 

And ladies fair of high degree 

Of many kingdoms of the Shee. 



THE LEPRECHAUN 65 

I will not try to picture here 

The trumpets' clangor or the cheer 

That welcomed us as we drew near, 

Nor can I paint, however faint, 

A shadow of the majesty 

That in the form and face and eye 

Of these high monarchs I descry. 

The King, a sun-god seemed to be, 

Alighted from his blazing car. 

And oh! the Queen in golden sheen 

Looked lovelier than the evening star. 

And now along a corridor 

With crystal ceiling, walls and floor 

And pillars tall of argental 

That mighty throng to sweetest song 

A stream of loveliness they pour. 

And now the Queen is on her throne 
More bright than sunset ever shone; 
The King beside her takes his place. 
His rapture shining in his face. 
Around the gorgeous hall of gold 
Unnumbered couches are unrolled 
Of colors rare and manifold. 
And countless hosts of forms divine 
In robes that like the rainbow shine 
Sit on the couches or recline. 



56 THE LEPRECHAUN 

The King now waves his wand on high 
And round the court, as in reply, 
Uprolls the thunder of a drum 
And in the little pipers come. 
Now vested brighter than the dawn 
And at their head in flaming red 
Forth steps the dainty Leprechaun, 
And swifter, lighter than a bird 
Each little airy, fairy stirred 
In wavy trance of graceful dance 
To sweetest music ever heard. 

Now lifts the Queen a wand of gold ; 
The couch-encircled walls unfold. 
And lo! a banquet hall unrolled 
More wide and high than human eye 
Hath ever seen beneath the sky, 
To picture scarce would Milton try. 
If thou wouldst view this hall aright, 
For words are faint the scene to paint. 
To cloudless skies uplift thy sight 
When every star is blazing bright 
In the illimitable height 
Around the glowing Queen of night. 

My guide now takes me by th^ hand 
And leads me, at the Ring's command. 
Beside the throne where kings alone 
Permitted are to sit or stand. 




'And like the hosts on heaven's outposts 
When beauteous Night her banner flies. 
The star-like banqueters uprise." 

Page 57 



THE LEPRECHAUN 57 

Then suddenly the music dies, 

And like the hosts on heaven's outposts 

When beauteous Night her banner flies, 

The star-like banqueters uprise 

And forward lean where sits the Queen, 

The moon and mirror of the scene. 

As toward me turned and spake the King 

These words so fine and flattering: 

"Since Ossian in the days of eld 

No human eye has e'er beheld 

Our person, palace, court or throne. 

Our gracious Queen, save thine alone. 

Our high ambassador has grown 

To love thee, and our Leprechaun. 

And in thine eyes I see the dawn 

Of more than friendship for the rare 

And radiant princess Golden Hair, 

Our worthy brother's only heir. 

Such things bring joy unto our breast. 

So shall we grant thee one request: 

Proclaim whate'er thou lovest best." 

I glanced across the boundless sea 

Of beaming faces turned to me, 

A mirror of infinity ! 

Beside the Queen, divinely fair, 

I saw the princess Golden Hair 

Too bright for eyes to linger there. 

Before me gleamed what long I dreamed, — 

Love, beauty, wealth and deathless fame: 



58 THE LEPRECHAUN 

A maid divine, all would be mine 

To have and hold to own and claim, — 

And Oh ! so fair Temptation came, 

And if I yielded who could blame? 

But high o'er all I saw upflame 

My native land, my country's name. 

And turning to the King, I said 

(And proud and high I raised my head), 

"O mighty King, my wish must be 

My country and the Mermaid Free." 

But scarcely was my purpose spoke 

Ere vanished all, and I awoke! 



NOTES 

1. The Banshee (fairy woman) is the wildest 
and grandest of all Irish beliefs. She is usually 
attired in loose white drapery, her long locks float- 
ing over her thin shoulders. Her duty is to warn 
old Irish families of approaching misfortune and 
to wail o'er the dead. 

2. Bog cotton. 

3. Tiny. 

4. The Leprechaun is the fairy shoemaker. He 
is the most archly mischievous and amusing of the 
fairy tribe. He is seen sitting under a hedge 
mending or making a shoe, and whoso catches him 
can make him deliver up his treasures of gold. 
While your eyes are on him he is in your power. 
If you look away, he vanishes. He wears a red 
coat with many buttons and a cocked hat. 

5. A red cap. 

6. Sly, cunning. 

7. A bag full. 

8. A Druidic paradise. 

59 



60 THE LEPRECHAUN 

9. The good people: the fairies. 

10. The distinctive features of Achill Island are 
the mountains Croughan and Slievemore, rising 
from out the sea 2400 feet. The cathedral rocks 
and Minnaun cliffs rise sheer from the ocean 1000 
feet. Sir John Franklyn said the view from the 
summit of Croughan was the grandest sight he 
ever beheld. Sir Harry Johnston was equally en- 
thusiastic regarding the view from Achill head. 

The Pall Mall Gazette of December 7, 1878, 
says: — "Sables d'Olonn is one of the finest bath- 
ing strands in Europe; but at Dugort, which is far 
and very far more beautiful, there are three of 
such, a quarter of a mile each in extent, with a 
slope so gentle as to be almost imperceptible, the 
sands of the finest velvet, the waters of the most 
absolute purity.'* 

11. This Abbey is said to be three thousand 
years old. Its frescoes have been the subject of 
much controversy, and it is claimed they illustrate 
the theory of the connection of ancient Ireland 
with the East and its religious worship. 

12. Tradition has invested Knockmagh with po- 
etical interest, for here Finvarra, the "Oberon" of 
Irish sylvan mythology, holds his court. 

13. Land under the wave. 

14<. Kilfursa Church was built by Saint Fursey 



THE LEPRECHAUN 61 

in 640. He extended his missionary labors into 
England and France. In England Segebert, King 
of East Anglia, abdicated the sceptre to become a 
monk under his direction. In France Clovis II 
gave him land on which he founded in 644 the 
world-famous monastery of Lagny-Sur-Marne. 
He had visions of deep import and the poet Dante 
is said to have been indebted to them for the plan 
of his "Divina Commedia." 

15. Lough Corrib is named from Orbsen Mac 
Alloid, commonly called Mannan Mac Lir — son of 
the sea — from whom the Isle of Man was also 
named. He was slain in battle by Ullin^ hence 
Moycullen, plain of Ullin. 

16. Hen Castle is regarded as the oldest military 
structure in Ireland. Its isolated position and 
character have led people to believe that its origin 
was supernatural, and that it was built by enchant- 
ment in one night by a cock and hen grouse who 
had been an Irish prince and princess. 

1 

17. Land of the ever young. 

18. Land of the ever living. 



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